A gorge disaster
by MusicalTB2
Summary: Scott goes alone on a rescue mission, but realises this is bigger than he can handle, can his brothers save him? I don't own Thunderbirds. Rated T for swearing.


John smiled as Scott walked into the room, "Morning report."

"A situation John?"

"Afraid so, trapped climber."

"And this time, is it an actual emergency, not just a fake call to get us off the island?" Scott raised an eyebrow.

John shook his head, "No, this one is legit, the climber's friend was the one who called."

"Right then, I'll fly out there and see what I can do."

"Want me to send the others out too?"

"Not yet, let me see what the area is like first and how to do this rescue, it might just need the harness from Thunderbird 1."

"FAB. Good luck Scott."

Scott smiled back at John, "Thanks, I'll call when I get there," He then crossed the room and stopped by the lamps which would take him down to Thunderbird 1.

Thunderbird 1 took off in the direction of California and Scott turned his scramjets on to cut down on arrival time, back at the base, the other brothers walked into the lounge, Virgil called John up in the space station.

"John, where's Scott?"

"Solo mission for now, he knows what he's doing, don't look so concerned."

Virgil sat down, "Solo, where?"

John checked the globe, "California's mountain ranges."

"A climber then John?" Gordon asked.

"Affirmative. It appears someone has got trapped, Scott's gone to get them in the harness."

Virgil frowned, "He shouldn't have gone alone."

Meanwhile, Scott had reached the mountains and was hovering over the land to seek out a spot to take his Bird down, he parked up near the cliff face and jumped down to make his way over to the climber's friend who was looking tearful.

"Hi, International Rescue calling."

"Thank god, my friend Jenson is trapped at the bottom."

"Is he injured?"

"I don't know, I just saw him fall, sorry that's all I saw."

Scott rubbed the girl's shoulder, "It's alright, I'll get him ok? Just trust Scott."

The girl smiled, "Thank you."

Scott turned away and activated his jet pack before jumping down into the hole, he worked his way down slowly using the rock face to get himself down gently, suddenly there was a gust of wind through the chasm and it knocked Scott off course against the rock, the solid face knocked out the jets on the pack and Scott fell straight down with a yell.

John panicked slightly as watched his brother's signal cut out, "Scott? Come in Scott, what's happened?" With no answer, John turned to his family, "Calling Tracy Island?"

"Go ahead John?" Alan stretched.

"Guys, it's Scott. He's fallen."

"What?! Is he ok?" Virgil demanded, almost jumping up from the sofa.

"I don't know Virgil, I can't get through to him."

Virgil grimaced, "And you let him go alone?"

"He can do it."

"Virg, don't take it out on John," Alan frowned and Virgil rounded on him.

"He shouldn't have gone out without backup Alan, maybe you're too young to understand that. I'm going out there to get him, anyone is welcome to come along but I'm not waiting anymore."

Before anyone could stop him, Virgil had gone from the lounge down to Thunderbird 2, Gordon sighed as he stood up.

"I'll go with him, he'll need someone to keep him sane."

Alan laughed quietly, "Don't pressure him then."

"I want to live Alan, wish me luck."

Gordon ran down the stairs to the hanger, hastily changing into his uniform as he hurried to Thunderbird 2, he could hear the engines warming up and he leapt aboard.

"Oh, come to join this expedition?" Virgil grimaced as he opened the hanger door.

Gordon rolled his eyes, "Let's get going Virgil, we don't know what state Scott is in."

"FAB."

Thunderbird 2 took off and set course for California, as the journey progressed, Virgil calmed down and Gordon felt it was safe to talk to him again.

"So Virgil, what's the plan?"

"First, we need to find Scott, then we can work it out from there."

"OK. What if he's really hurt?"

"Then I'll kill him to add more pain, he shouldn't have gone down there alone."

Gordon nodded, "Seems fair. How far away are we now?"

"We're practically there. John, what's his signal like?"

John looked back them sadly, "He doesn't have one, but I do have his location from where he fell."

"Which is?" Gordon raised an eyebrow.

"Californian mountain range, he went after a climber but ended up falling himself."

"The idiot, I bet he hadn't tied himself up properly," Virgil grimaced.

Gordon chuckled, "Are you really that mad at Scott?"

"You bet I am."

Thunderbird 2 hovered over the gorge where Scott had fallen, she landed and Virgil locked himself to the cliff face, Gordon followed.

"Gordon, stay there, I don't want you falling too."

"No way Virgil, I'm coming with you. You might need help in getting Scott back."

Virgil rolled his eyes, "Alright, I guess I'll need you to rescue the climber."

"Uh huh."

The two brothers abseiled down to the bottom of the gorge and Gordon stopped off at the ledge where the climber was lying cradling his leg, Virgil continued to the bottom and looked for Scott, he ran over to a body lying on their side and shook his shoulder.

"Scott? Wake up brother."

Scott murmured incoherently, "Virgil, is...it you?"

Virgil smiled tearfully, "Oh Scott, what the fuck were you thinking?"

"Virgil, what happened?" Scott rolled over onto his back and Virgil gasped at his injuries.

"You've bloodied yourself up good that's what, can you get up at all?"

Scott sat up dizzily and blinked to get his bearings, then he reached for Virgil's hand, steadily he got to his feet then swayed, "Ahh, no, I think my ankle is broken."

"Lean on me Scott, I'll check it," Virgil knelt down and gently eased Scott's shoe off, "Well you've managed to bleed through your ankle so I'm guessing that it is broken," He sighed and looked up at the sky lighting the gorge, "This is going to be harder than I thought."

"What about my climber?" Scott asked weakly.

"Gordon's got him, and that gives me an idea. Gordo, are you back in Thunderbird 2?"

"FAB Virgil, Scott's climber is aboard too and conscious, I've put him on a drip for now but he'll need hospitalisation. How's our idiot of a brother?"

"Hey!" Scott snapped groggily.

"Ohh he can hear me? Crap."

"Gordon, this is a big favour, but I need you to lower the rescue capsule down here using Thunderbird 2."

"You mean, I have to fly your bird properly?" Gordon paled ever so slightly.

Virgil in took a breath, "I know you can do it, just take it steady. It's the only way to save Scott."

"Is he ok?"

"Physically no, but mentally as normal as ever. Hurry Gordo, he needs attention on his injuries."

Gordon nodded, "FAB, I'm on my way now."

Virgil wrapped an arm around Scott to support him and kissed his forehead tenderly, "Why did you scare us like that?"

"It wasn't on purpose," Scott opened one eye wearily, his other eye was covered with a bruise, "What about Thunderbird 1?"

Virgil rolled his eyes but knew that if something ever happened to him, he'd ask what had become of his bird too, "Brains will remote pilot her home don't worry. We just need to get you home safe for now ok?"

There was a roar above them and the sunlight was covered up by the huge shape of Thunderbird 2, the pod doors opened underneath and a capsule was sent down, Virgil watched closely as his bird came lower until the capsule was resting on the ground, he typed the code in and helped Scott inside, "We're in Gordo, good job."

"Ready to go?"

"FAB, take her away."

Gordon pulled the lever back and regained height as the capsule came aboard, he closed the doors and set Thunderbird 2 down on the main ledge next to Thunderbird 1, then he ran down to the pod bay, "Virgil, where's Scott?"

"Right here Gordo," Virgil smiled as Gordon ran past him.

"Scott, thank god," Gordon hugged his eldest brother gently who laughed.

"Hey Gordon, you can't kill me off that easily. Where's my climber then?"

"Up top asleep, we need to get him to a hospital."

"First things first, we'll get Scott up onto the other bed and call John."

John breathed a huge sigh of relief and called the family, "Guys, I've just received news from Virgil, they've found Scott and the climber and both are alive. Scott is badly injured but they'll be coming home soon, they just need to drop their main rescue victim off at the hospital then they'll be on their way back."

Grandma smiled, "Thank heavens, my poor boys."

"Thanks for informing us John, what about Thunderbird 1 though?" Alan asked as he wrapped his arms around his legs.

"Remote pilot Alan," Brains smiled, "I'll get on that right away."

"Thanks Brains. I'll call again when Thunderbird 2 is on her way home," John waved as he signed off.

Thunderbird 2 dropped off the climber with no fuss then took off for home, Gordon kept close to Scott's side who was shaking slightly.

"Are you ok Scott?" Gordon asked as he pulled a blanket over his brother.

"Uh huh, I'm fine. Just really sore."

"You're going to scar over terribly, this looks nasty," Gordon nodded down to the red ankle, "Does it hurt?"

Scott tried some humour, "Oh no not at all, it's only broken."

Gordon frowned at him, "Yah so funny. But maybe if you had been wearing your harness correctly, this wouldn't have happened."

Virgil looked round at them, "Easy guys, Gordon come and sit down. There's little else we can do for Scott in here...except kill him of course for being such an idiot."

Scott looked over from the bed, "Why am I an idiot? I was doing my job."

"Because you didn't assess before jumping. You didn't wait for us or call for any backup if I recall."

"I knew I could make it."

"But you didn't make it, you've broken your ankle. You're so selfish Scott, what's wrong with you?" Gordon asked, getting a little hysterical with anger.

Virgil lowered his voice slightly, "Easy Gordo."

"I'm not selfish Gordon, what the heck are you talking about? I'm the one who's injured."

"Yeah because you're so stubborn," Gordon sniffed and he rubbed his eyes quickly.

"Are you crying?" Scott raised his eyebrows.

Virgil rolled his eyes, "Enough both of you. Gordon, take over flying, I'll talk to our brother."

Gordon wiped his eyes on his suit and swapped places with Virgil, smiling slightly when his brother rubbed his shoulder as he walked past, "FAB."

Virgil sat beside Scott's bed and grabbed some bandage to secure his brother's ankle, "Do you want to know why Gordon is upset? He thought you were dead, as did I. If you had waited for us to join you instead of going off on your own, this wouldn't have happened at all."

"I had it under control Virgil, until my harness let me down."

"Bullshit. You were being stubborn in your 'I can do everything stunt'. Well, you can't Scott, you're not invincible."

Scott frowned, "I've never thought that about myself. I knew what I was doing the whole time."

Virgil face palmed, "You're not listening to me. You fucked up today and we thought you had died. What would've happened if you left us?"

"You'd become next in line, dad warned us about this in the past."

"Shut up and listen!" Virgil's face was thunder, "We wouldn't have been able to say goodbye, Grandma would be heartbroken and we'd be split even more."

Scott teared up slightly, "Stop it."

"Not until you realise your error Scott. You think you can do these things but you just can't, not on your own. You need us, or you end up injured," Virgil looked at Scott's broken ankle and various cuts, he finished bandaging and sat back.

Tears fell down Scott's cheeks and he sniffed, "I'm...I'm really sorry. I just wanted to save that man as soon as possible without delay."

"But by falling yourself he ended up in a worse state having to wait for us to arrive."

Scott nodded and covered his face with his grazed hands, "Forgive me?"

Gordon looked back at his brothers and put Thunderbird 2 on autopilot, "Virgil?"

Virgil held his finger up to Gordon, "One second Gordo. Scott, look at me?"

Scott looked into his brother's eyes but couldn't keep his gaze, "I can't."

"Scott, you are not a bad person, but you need to learn how to take time," Virgil smiled and Scott nodded, "come here," he wrapped his arms around Scott's fragile state and felt him shudder slightly as he cried, "Shh I'm here," Gordon walked over and wrapped his arms around Scott's waist offering more comfort, nuzzling his face into Scott's shoulder in sympathy.

"Scott I'm sorry I yelled," Gordon sighed into his brother's uniform.

Scott sniffed, "It's ok, you were right to. I was far too reckless today and I'm sorry."

Virgil stroked Scott's hair rhythmically, "We're nearly home, cheer up or Alan will see you cry."

Scott smiled a little, "Yeah, I don't want that."

Virgil let go, "I'll be at the controls."

Gordon gave Scott a proper hug and Scott hugged him back, "I love you bro."

"I know squid, I love you too."

Thunderbird 2 landed and Virgil got Scott down to the infirmary, Brains ran tests and smiled as he hooked up a drip.

"Well done Virgil, that was quick with the bandaging."

Virgil nodded, "It's what was needed, will he be ok?"

"I'll be fine Virgil, thanks," Scott lay back on the bed sleepily, "I won't be pulling stunts like that again."

"You better not. Hey, grandma and Max have made cookies, do you want one?"

Scott smiled as he closed his eyes, "That would be great."


End file.
